Find the top rated cross country skiing trails in Laurens, whether you're looking for an easy short cross country skiing trail or a long cross country skiing trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a cross country skiing trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
In an attempt to depart from electronics, with much protest, I rented bikes for myself and 9 year old grandson. It was a new adventure to us both. We began our journey downtown and made it to the Swamp Rabbit Cafe to stop for a rest and enjoyed popsicles sold there. We then headed towards Traveler’s Rest. It was perfect weather that morning for a ride and I suggest doing that as opposed to an afternoon ride during summer months. The child who was “forced” to do this, ended our trip with his approval who exclaimed it was the “Best Day Ever”.
I wish there were more access points to this trail. There is one at the end of Bond Avenue in Mathews Mill Village and one behind Greenwood OB/GYN near West Alexander Avenue. If anyone knows of other places to access the trail, besides the beginning at the train museum and the end at Florida Avenue, I would like to know of them.
We did this trail by chance (bad weather in NC forced to reconsider SC). Our group was two families with teenage boys. We had a great time and travelled approx. 25 miles. We started from downtown (rental shop) and headed north and ended at the river walk area (back downtown Greenville). What a great surprise, a waterfall right in downtown. Fantastic! The course is rather urban but this has advantages. There were some food stops, ice cream stops, and even some brew pub stops. I recommend renting a bike at one of the places just north of downtown. There are a couple. The downtown shop also does Segway tours and you can find the shop closed.
I highly recommend this trail and stay for dinner in Greenville.
The trail is lovely and shady. It has a bucolic feel to it and winds past the old Park Seed location. Not much change in elevation, so it's good if you have small children or need to push a stroller or wheelchair. Good for gentle walking to get back in shape after surgery, too! :)
From the north end, the trail is relatively flat and an easy ride through downtown Greenville and on to Cleveland Park and the zoo. The biggest issue with the trail is signage. The actual trailhead in Traveler's Rest is not really clear, even though you can see the trail and there is a lot of parking along it. Once you get closer and then through downtown, there are a lot of side trails but they are also marked Swamp Rabbit. Use your GPS and downloaded trail map. Once you leave Cleveland Park, you will start to get into some hills. The southern end of this portion of the trail is even worse to find. It starts at the intersection of South Pleasantburg Dr and Cleveland Street. There's a bowling alley on Cleveland St that may let you park there. Ask for permission!
If you want a real challenge, take Cleveland St past Pleasantburg Dr into neighborhoods to Perkinsmill Rd or East Perkinsmill Rd (much hillier choice) . The two roads will meet up just before going under I85, which is where you pick up the southern end of the Swamp Rabbit Trail. This will take you down to Lake Conestee. Watch for turns marked on the streets. Overall ride is about 24 miles from Traveler's Rest to lake Conestee. This last section is about 6 miles and will give you about 600 feet of elevation gain.
rode northern section then around the lake at Furman University and back. about 14 miles round trip. plenty of places to stop and eat great bike and kayak shop in Travellers Rest
I love the trail and looking forward to alot of summer riding.
I have two issues though.
1) the bumps are AWEFUL and make the ride less enjoyable and if going the distance, making it hard to enjoy.
2) we sure could use a bridge or two over the 2 VERY BUSY roads we must cross.
I was visiting the area and while I would not make a special trip just to ride this trail, It was definitely worth my time while I was here to ride it. Since this was closer to where I was staying than the longer Swamp Rabbit Trail, and didn't have much time left in the day to ride before dusk anyway I chose to ride this trail instead and wasn't disappointed. I rode from the new Easley Doodle Park out to the other end and back which was a little over 15 miles. If it weren't almost dark by the time I finished I would have happily ridden it again.
The trail surface is new and smooth. Storms had hit the area the night before so there was still some minor tree debris on the path but nothing that affected my ride. The path otherwise is well maintained and kept clean. Hills are long and very gradual and while they gave me a good workout, they shouldn't pose a problem for someone in good physical condition riding a multi-speed bike (if you don't have a multi-speed bike or are just an occasional cyclist they will pose a challenge). The trail joins two small towns so I encountered only a couple of crossings with any traffic to speak of. Since it adjoins some people's back yards the main things I had to watch out for were PETS! Maybe it was as much due to of the time of day as anything else, but I encountered two tiny kittens playing on the path, three full grown cats, and a small dog.
All and all, however, it was a nice ride and was a great way to finish off my visit to the area.
This trail is a great trail for biking but also a busy trail. We rode it on a Friday morning in March and I was surprised to see how many people out! There were moms with strollers, people walking and "serious" bikers (the ones that probably do bike races). But really enjoyed the trail as there is a lot to see (not boring). We started at the zoo and rode the trail north up to Travelers Rest and had lunch up there at the Whistle Stop (GREAT chickens salad) and back. We even stopped on the way coming back and rode around the lake at Furman. We stopped in at the Swamp Rabbit Grocery and had some of their homemade bread! Absolutely fabulous and bought a loaf to take with us! Their cookies are delicious too! A lot of people eating their sandwiches while we were there. I think we would do that next time!
Overall our trip was about 30 miles. When we started at the zoo we found a few spots that we weren't sure which way to go but we just asked people near us which way to Travelers Rest and they pointed us in the right direction. I think they need better signage on the beginning of the trail from the point starting at the zoo. The asphalt does need a little repair in a few places but overall a very enjoyable ride! GREAT day!
Just rode the Doodle Rail Trail and found it a quiet and smooth ride (nicely paved wide asphalt trail). However, it is hilly whether you go from Easley to Pickens or Pickens to Easley so bikes with gears would be needed. Most of the hills are long and gradual but you need the gears to comfortably ride them. Wooded in places and you pass cows, goats and old train cars.
The Doodle trail is very well paved and crosses forested areas with streams and bridges. It is very pleasant to walk, run or bike on it between Easley and Pickens. Bring the whole family for a beautiful walk.
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